Picked the wrong day to go out by the look of it, everything is frozen solid today might have made yesterdays mud and puddle fest a bit more fun. Lots of grind on the BB and brakes yesterday.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKrWJAvA4ky/

Got out for a dog walk when I was back from the ride and it was getting cold, should have planned to get out his morning knowing what was coming.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKrWZFlgVpc/

Might have an extra long WFH lunch hour tomorrow and pop out before the weather changes on Tuesday

I’m hoping this unlike the last 3 years the weather is kind. Torrential rain doesn’t really bring much to us.

Recently we’ve had a few new faces making regular visits and it would be nice to include them. We now have a family of long tail tits making daily appearances for almost a month and a coal tit. Must have made a positive impact with the feed change.

Damn you creative organised types! I have a selection of random fat ball and bird seed tubs stuffed randomly with bits.

It’s a shocking affair and this thread makes my guilt grow

2015 arkose, I have a set of mavic askiums with conti gp 4 seasons 28mm for regular road duty and a set of hunt gravel with schwalbe 35mm gravel for the rest. To keep it simple I run the same 10 speed cassette. At some stage prob next year now I will treat myself with a 50th pressie and get new road bike but for now I’m happy.

I borrowed my mates red zone log in once, the most amazing coverage of sport I’ve seen!

Have been interested since Ch4 did it in the 80’s. I don’t have Sky so my coverage is limited to the BBC show and you tube.
Osi and Jason Bell are great fun, think they miss Chappa’s.

I’ve been in a fantasy league with mates for 10yrs and we generally all go out for the Superbowl every year to a bar in town, eat crap, drink beer and take the next day off work.

Absolutely freezing cold out there today, still plenty snow up near Consett but the route down through Stanley is heavy with large frozen sections and made life fun. Poor glove choice today but the overshoes worked a treat.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKbquGrgkOK/

‘ah, yes, you see sir you’ve picked up the 340g tin of tuna where clearly the inch square label 36 feet along the shelf in the other aisle states the special offer relates to the 360g tin of tuna’

There is something on the CNN website about the ideals the founding fathers had for the pardoning process and it was aimed at righting wrongs, EDIT found it https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/18/politics/donald-trump-eleventh-hour-pardons/index.html

Not sure that trump has ever cared about the constitution or the founding fathers etc etc

Yip same here, £30 in my wallet for months and months. We were discussing last night where is all the cash that usually floats around the economy? The ATM’s wont be getting filled as regular as they usually do and majority of cash economies pubs, takeaways will have been shut or gone online.

Last time I spent cash was in November to get a haircut (rapidly approaching overgrown hedge currently) and a parking spot in North Yorks back in December.

I shall echo the many thanks to @jameso, on a personal level for helping me out a few years back when I had dropout issues on my Arkose frame and in general for his willingness to support riders with helpful advice and sharing his tech knowledge on this thread. I reckon it’s definitely sold a good few Arkose to STW folk.

STW
Strava
Eurosport
Netflix
Disney plus (finishes next month)
I have BT sort on my work phone which was free for a year, won’t be keeping that on, trying to watch rugby on an iPhone is hard work.
Have been thinking about The Athletic couple of mates swear by it.
Never bothered with normal papers

My brand new schwalbe x one’s did exactly this when I first went tubeless. Still do after a couple of months.

Was supposed to be taking the newly fitted dropper post riding today on the MTB but yesterday’s thaw made me shy away from washing the bike once again. So I took the arkose out for a run down to the Tyne Tunnel via the old railway line. I have never seen so many puddles, mud and skating rinks in my life. How I managed to stay on two wheels all the way there and back is more luck than judgement. Didn’t stop for pics of the mud, just picture a Belgian CX race after three days of rain. Still ended up washing the bike, it’ll need a proper clean again tomorrow as the pads and BB sounded ropey on the way home.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKJ299TAZhd/?igshid=1fbsi0dyrw48x

I’d go to live in France, I have some friends who lived in Challonges (sp) and went to work in Geneva every day just to get some value.
My brother’s gf lives there whilst he’s in Zurich and he says it’s pricey compared to his place. He spent 10 years in Tokyo and reckons Switzerland in more expensive

EDIT but def give it a go, I would in your position got to be better than the UK for the next couple of years!

End of. Thread

And lo it came to pass, a week after the new keys arrive I find attached to the broken garage door zapper (which I took out on a ride today and subsequently couldn’t get in the house) the keys I’ve spent years searching for.

Sadly even if he is impeached he will wear it as another badge of style thing, it will be seen as further ‘evidence’ that they are stealing the election from him. He will blow it up into something once again about him.

4 years of constant me, me, me is bloody draining on the brain (for me at least 4000 miles away watching), but to those in the US its been akin to a condensed version of the Daily Heil headlines for the last 40 years over here. It’s no wonder so many turned up last week.

Not so much about the time to paint it at this time of year but the time it takes to dry. I try never to get involved with decorating over the winter months.

False grass

My OH works with adults with learning disabilities for local authority, a fair number of local GP’s have arrangements to offer vaccines at short notice to those that can pop along to a practice, these are from no-shows or those who have to cancel (recent snow fall and icy weather makes it tough for 80 year old folk to get about). The process is straight forward an email will go out to a list of individuals who have yet to be vaccinated within the organisation and its a first come first served arrangement.
Got to say that the staff at the practices seem to be pulling out the stops on this right now, OH got shout at 4.30 last night to see if she could call in for a jab before 6.

18 miles of frozen bridleways yesterday, lots of mx ruts and boots shaped death traps to ride through. My legs are still aching now. Great riding in the snow the higher I climbed, really enjoyed the day

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ1HRTOglDe/

I have two blink cameras at the front of my house both have been up for around 15 months. Both work great fairly quick notification from each camera regardless of being connected via WiFi or data. Think I paid £170 for two.

I imagine the decision of the Spectator to print that article must have been very difficult for them, most of the writers there have done love in pieces about trump since way back. He’s the kind of RW arse they can get fully behind.

I’m guessing Murray drew the short straw in the office to send up that distress flair, like Tory HQ now it’ll be like a scene from The Thick of It with folk running around wondering which bandwaggon to board next, who’s coat tails to grab onto because they possess no solid moral direction themselves, other than follow the money

I had to laugh when I saw a picture of a guy with an actual pitchfork in his hand.

OK, short list but here goes.

1992 Raleigh Montana (disappeared in Faslane around 1998)

2000 Specialized Rockhopper (blue and white with Judy 63mm travel forks)

2005 Specialized Stumpjumper (gorgeous beautiful creature)

2013 Specialized Camber (to replace the above 2 which were stolen)

2014 Pinnacle Arkose 3 (currently running 2 wheelsets for road and not road)

Gravy Seals – that is very nice and very apt.

I don’t think for one minute that Orange is concerned about the senate run offs, thats politics, responsibility, accountability even and we know he just doesn’t get involved with that one bit.

Thinking back over the last 4 years I can hardly recall him doing anything truly political (policy and such) and even if he came close to it, it was race or denier driven (banning muslims from entering the states or leaving the climate change agreements) nothing seemed to be done for people other than those who he owed money or favours to.

Janey Godley would be happy to see him arrive at the golf course

1994 bought my first MTB from a mate, he went on to win the lottery and I’m still riding. I win.

Seriously, the minute the new keys arrive I’ll put them in a draw next to the originals.

Cheers all, used the numpty caveat to good effect there.

Set of roof bars for sale will fit mondeo 08 plate and 61 passat.

Seat post is 320mm Not including the clamp that fixes to the seat rails and I have it 150mm proud of the seat clamp when riding. Looks like external only routing as well.

Now to find the right post

Cheers all, I will do some measurements on the seat post and have a look at the options in the morning and probably push the button.

Box – will let you know

I changed the wheel set today on the bike and hit the old railway lines and tracks locally, plenty mud, snow and some frozen puddles deeper than I anticipated! Wrestled with a partially frozen hose pipe to clean up the bike afterwards

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJjKQp2APxL/

Hi Spekkie, Boxing Day night (living the dream, or at least yours) I sat and read the entire thread (have been going to do it for a while) it was quite the journey binge reading it and it was really like one of those TV dramas or books you can’t put down.

Anyway, I trust you and yours have a year that finally brings everything to fruition and I look forward to following it here. Los mejores deseos y buena suerte

I took VR 5 years ago and my payment was over £30k the balance I paid into my final salary scheme as an AVC (tax free) the rest (£30k) went in the bank (wish it was still there) I recall asking the HR team for more advice at the time but they were made redundant before I got an answer, I left my company on last day of November and was asked also to make decisions before end of year, fortunately for me I’d been aware of the sums for 2 months so was able to make informed decisions.

Good luck with the future

I rode my bike today, truly a Happy Gnusmas!

Best wishes to all wherever you may be.

Looking forward to another year with the wonderful STW family

Well this is a real shame, I recall the bogtrotter weekend ride threads, always filled with phots of thrills spills, water crossings and female riders bums all done is the best possible taste of course.
I remember arranging to meet up in Grisedale with him and others for a night ride one freezing midweek December day, turned out I was in the wrong car park and on the wrong day, froze my bits off riding round awaiting the cavalry.

A reminder that non of us are getting any younger and that we should take every opportunity whatever the weather to get out and ride.

Ride on Simon, may your shutter be quick and your rubber grip.

Well the list (so far) of friends, friends of friends and other criminals that he has pardoned is a sickening sight to behold.

I’d like to see him actually start the job never mind resign from it. Fat oaf has been MIA since his wet dream came true.